The Beginning of the End
by Shadow284
Summary: Everything Eragon did to restore peace in Alagaesia has toppled once old and new enemies approach rapidly. Is there any way to win? I do not own the Inheritance Cycle, the Kane Chronicles, or the Lord of the Rings.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

_The world is falling, and I taste for blood._

So thought the man hidden by the shadows of Death. He had been stuck here for nearly 3 years, or so he thought, for time was hard to discriminate in the depths of the land of shadows. He smiled as he smelled the flesh of He Who Killed Him.

His wavy red hair moved at a slight breeze that pushed away the darkness. His grin was quickly replaced with a frown. There was never wind down in the Underworld. He felt light crawl up his back as a door creaked open. The man turned around on his heel to investigate, and another current parted his hair to reveal deep black eyes and a pure white face. There was a man standing in the doorway.

"Who are you?" hissed the Shade in his best tone. There was a brief silence that followed as the wind stopped.

"I am here to bring you back." answered the man in doorway, resonating in slightly bass tones. The Shade opened his eyes wide. He would know that voice anywhere.

"What are you doing here, My Lord?" questioned the Shade, trying to appear as loyal as possible. The man in the doorway shifted his feet uneasily.

"I have been brought back by forces greater than ever before, and I am here to free my most loyal servant." the man responded, and without waiting for a response, he continued, "Follow me if you wish, for I intend to reclaim my rightful land." With that, he elegantly stepped out of the Shade's view. The Shade grinned like a madman (well, technically speaking, he was mad). This time the boy would not escape his clutches. Oh, he know that his master wanted He Who Killed Him for himself. But this time, that would not happen.

_The world is falling, and I taste for blood._

He repeated that phrase in his head. Yes, the boys blood will spill into the Shade's mouth, and once that is complete, everyone would fear the name Durza.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

The Hunter nocked an arrow at a passing rabbit nearly 2 miles away. He had been born with the gift of enhanced senses, much more enhanced than normal. He pulled back the arrow... and let it loose. It flew at speeds faster than fast, striking the bunny down.

In 3 quick bounds, The Hunter was at the rabbits side. He slowly pulled out the arrow and wiped it on the grass. The Hunter was especially good at this game, for he had lived for over 4000 years, although he had only been in Alagaesia for about 20 of them. He grabbed the dead rabbit, and within five minutes had cooked it was ready to eat.

The Hunter was camped outside the city of Silthrim, near where the elves lived in the forest of Du Weldenvarden. At the moment, he was tracking down a woman he had not met in awhile, but last he heard, she was in the great city of Ilirea, capital of Alagaesia.

He finished off the rabbit and was about to keep treading west when he heard the stomping of feet. He quickly but quietly rushed to the sound of commotion and nearly gasped out loud. In front of him were no less than 50 men, and in the middle of them, was a dragon egg.

He had heard stories of dragons and even see them up close, but never had he seen an egg so brilliant. There were multiple scales of gold running down the egg, and shone beautifully in the moonlight. He remembered how the Dragon Rider Eragon had ordered eggs to be brought to all races. He assumed this one was being brought to the elves in Ellesmera. He turned away reluctantly, but glimpsed a red bandanna around one of the men's ankle. He looked again, more closely this time, and saw a black cross surrounded by a thick layer of dark blue. The Hunter's eyes went wide. That was the symbol of King Galbatorix!

The Hunter thought about killing the men before they could reach their destination, for he had the opportunity and the skill to do so, but then he decided against it. If he could track these men to their destination, he could save the egg and reveal a rebel hideout. The Hunter looked back to make sure he wasn't being followed, then silently stalked after the men.

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Carter Kane slowly walked along the prairies of Wichita, Kansas. He had been tracking a rouge demon for 5 days now, and his work would finally pay off. He could sense the demon around here somewhere. He whirled around at the sound of grass crumpling and saw the demon running along the edge of the prairie.

"_Ha-si!"_ Carter yelled as the glowing hieroglyph for _Strike _shimmered into existence. The demon flew forward, landing face-first into a pit Carter had dug earlier that day. _Finally,_ Carter thought. He ran over to finish off the devil.

Carter arrived relatively fast and saw the demon lying on it's back, groaning. Carter slid down the dugout and cautiously walked over to the moaning demon. He raised his _khopesh _high in the air...and then suddenly the demon disappeared.

Carter tilted his head in confusion. He had never heard of a demon that could teleport. He climbed out of the pit, only to find that the vast prairie had been replaced with a barren wasteland. Carter gripped his _khopesh _harder now. Something weird was going on. He looked up to see that the beautiful daytime sky had been replaced with nothing but black. He looked down, horrified, as cracks appeared on the surface, and opened up into an endless void.

Carter felt himself falling, falling, falling as the light dimmed above. _What is going on? _He thought, as his vision failed him and everything went black.

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Roran Stronghammer had faced many dangers, such as wars, assassination attempts, and even betrayal close to his heart. But now he faced the worst of them all: boredom.

Roran was stuck in a conference that had gone on for at least 3 hours now. _Blast it. If Eragon were here, I wouldn't be stuck in this stupid conference. _Roran thought. Of course, Eragon had left for a purpose. Where else could he have trained the next generation of Riders? Not here, that's for sure.

"...Roran! RORAN!" someone shouted. Roran was knocked out of thoughts quickly. He looked around to see everyone glaring at him (everyone being King Orrin, Lady Nasuada, Grimmr Halfpaw, Angela, Lord Dathder, Queen Arya, Murtagh, and Nar Garzhog).

"Um, what was the question again?" Roran muttered, feeling embarrassed.

"I said," proclaimed Lady Nasuada "are you ready to fight?"

"Um, yeah, but why?" Roran asked daringly.

Nasuada rolled her eyes. "Tharos the Quick has taken back Aroughs and intends to make a new empire called "Tharosland". So are ready to siege the city?"

"Yes?" Roran asked, unsure if that was the right decision. Thankfully, everyone relaxed, so that was a good sign.

"Then you must leave at once." Nasuada ordered. Roran offered a weak smile, but underneath that, he was thinking, _Why do I always get the hard jobs?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

"Land ho! Land ho!" yelled Legolas from the crow's nest of the _Middle-Earth. _Frodo jumped out of his seat to join Gandalf on the deck.

"Gandalf, is it true? Have we arrived?" Frodo questioned excitedly. Perhaps some background story would help.

After the fellowship took out Sauron, Gandalf found a trace of a new metal on Sauron's tower. He leafed through old documents until he found that the metal was named brightsteel, and that it came from a far away land known as Alagaesia. The "journey" that Frodo had wanted to go on was to Alagaesia, to find elves and dragons and dwarves and more dragons. So, at this moment, the whole fellowship (minus Sam) is on the boat of question, the _Middle-Earth_. Anyways, back to the story.

Gandalf twitched nervously and stroked his white beard. "Hmm," he muttered. "I am led to believe so, but unless we land, I haven't an idea for cer-" His sentence was cut off by a menacing roar coming from the island in front of them.

"Yes. The answer is yes." Gandalf answered frighteningly.

"What was that?" Pippin asked stupidly.

"That, my lad," Gimli said, just coming on deck. "was a dragon."

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Eragon Shadeslayer stood in front of 3 kids: Zephynia, Tempest, and Gribrar. Never before had he been so nervous (well, except for the time that Tempest had wandered off into the Gilgalad Forest on his own). But he managed to summon up enough courage to begin his speech.

"3 years back, King Galbatorix ruled over Alagaesia, for a tyrant ruler he was, both cunning and ruthless. He, in his castle, held three dragon eggs captive: one blue, one red, and one green. With these eggs he assumed that he was invulnerable, save for the Varden."

"But one day, a young storyteller by the name of Brom, and-" Eragon was interrupted by Gribrar's raised his hand.

"Yes, Gribrar?" Eragon asked cautiously. Gribrar was a very smart dwarf, but tended to blurt things out before he had gotten that far.

"Brom was your father, wasn't he?" Eragon let out a sigh. _Perfect example._

he thought.

"Yes, but we'll get to that later. Anyways, Brom and his friend-" Eragon was cut off again, but this time by Zephynia. Eragon nodded at her, signalizing that she was allowed to speak. Zephynia was a calm and cautious elf girl, with a combo of cunning and deceitful. She was sort of like Elva, in that fashion.

"There's a darkness coming, sir." Eragon looked out the window and saw that she was indeed correct. A darkness was approaching, and Eragon didn't feel good about it.

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The Hunter darted out of sight. This was the fourth time the soldiers looked back to see if they were being followed. The Hunter remembered passing by Ilirea about 30 leagues back.

For a moment, he thought that the soldiers might be going all the way to Alalea, but luckily, they conversed for some time, in which The Hunter only picked up a few words of, but then they walked forward quickly into a huge black tower that The Hunter noticed a league back.

The Hunter racked his brain, trying to remember where this huge black tower was located. Then he remembered that the black tower was called Helgrind. _I went from Silthrim all the way to Dras-Leona in two weeks! Man, that's far! _The Hunter thought.

He took a step forward and immediately felt drowsy. The Hunter had not slept in 3 days, for fear that the men would escape. He tried to fight it, but he saw the ground rushing up to him as he toppled over, asleep.

**A/N: Since these first few chapters were introductions, now the chapters will be getting longer. I mean, like, fit for real books kind of chapters. I probably won't be able to update 'till Wednesday, September 24, 2014, so stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

Sadie Kane enjoyed her small travels. Right now, she was cruising along the Indian Ocean, listening to the mesmerizing tale that Anil was telling.

"...and so Eragon kept Saphira secret. But then the fateful Ra'zac attacked Eragon once more, and he fled through the Spine, fearful that the king would attempt to slaughter him.

"And so Eragon fled throughout the Hadarac Desert with Brom, a human by the name of Murtagh, and an elf Arya. Brom died near Dras-Leona, saving Eragon from Durza.

"Eragon found refugee in the Boer Mountains, and was saved by the Varden, the leader named Ajihad. There he also befriended a dwarf named Orik. Together, they defended against Durza and his army of Urgals. With Saphira and Arya's help, Eragon slew Durza, so his name changed to Eragon Shadeslayer.

"While he was unconscious, he was contacted by an elf called the Cripple Who Is Whole, and he offered to educate Eragon in magic and blade alike.

"And there his first of many adventures end, those which I will not speak of tonight, for my throat is dry."

Sadie did not understand how his throat was dry, for Anil only talked for about 3 minutes. But you did not want to anger those who entertain you.

"Now that was the briefest retelling of _Eragon _that I have ever heard!" one of the passengers cried out. Sadie remembered that her name was Martha before completely forgetting about her.

Sadie sat back and looked at the moonlight, digging her toes deep in the sand. Somehow, this boat had a miniature beach. It was awesome! _Dragons and elves. What nonsense! _she thought. Even though the tales were not true, Anil's words would have made many a person believe. He was an expert storyteller, just like Brom, apparently.

A dark shape flitted across the moon, but Sadie paid it no mind. She was too busy pondering Anil's tale. _Dragons and elves, dragons and elves, dragons and elves..._

Once again, the dark shape fluttered through the moon, obscuring the magnificent view. She squinted at the figure on the shape and saw that the figure was carrying something. The dark shape swooped down at the boat and all went black.

When Sadie awoke, she was underwater, being pulled backwards by a current far more powerful than the one they had on the boat. She almost let the current carry her, but then she spotted a huge ship close by. If the current kept pulling her back, she would most certainly die. Up ahead was a fairly large island. Sadie did the most sensible thing to do. She swam.

Swimming against the current proved very challenging. It was pulling her back, almost whispering in her ear, _Why waste your energy? You will die anyway._ A few times she considered giving up. There was a chance that she might avoid the humongous ship. But the idea passed as quickly as it came. The chances were low. Plus, she couldn't see any land behind. It was possible that she would die from starvation, or a hungry predator.

Eventually, after a lot of hard and strong strokes, she washed up on the shore. And there she laid, depleted of her strength.

Sadie looked down and gasped at the mess. The entire ship was destroyed and laid at the bottom of the sea (or so she thought). Blood rose up from the wreck, tainting the clear reflection of the sky with an oozy dark red. Sadie knew that everyone on the boat, but her, was dead (or did she?).

Sadie looked up and saw the black shape flitting across the daytime sky. Sadie bolted up to her feet, determined to have revenge. She took a step forward but pained her instantly. She tried to take another, but her legs buckled. She landed on the sand, managing to twist out of the way, barely avoiding landing face-first into the grains. She had enough time to think, _Where am I? _before her vision disappeared.

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Ceris was never really a popular city. Being one of the most eastern cities made it isolated enough. The fact that is was in the massive of forest of Du Weldenvarden made its population drop to a mere hundred. But not many were here today, for they were either drunk or dead.

The hooded woman carefully unlocked the gate leading into Ceris. She would never have picked such a dark spot to hold an important meeting, but the forces that commanded her were far more powerful than she could ever be.

"Come on." the hooded woman said, and a werecat followed her inside the gloomy city.

The hooded woman loathed such dreary places. The fog made it near impossible. She clutched her sword tightly, and she quickly hid the knucklebones of a dragon in her long, swishy cloak. The woman tilted her head as she heard faint music break the silence. When in doubt, try the tavern.

The tavern was bursting with excitement. The woman refused to take off her cloak, for fear that someone would notice her. The bartender insisted, so the woman silently drew her sword. It pierced through the wood and into the bartender's stomach. So much for him.

The woman looked around the room until she saw a lone man in a corner, likewise with a hood. The woman swished over to her, the werecat following ever so dignified. She sat down quietly and, for a while, they both sat unmoving their eyes never wavering from the counter.

Finally, the hooded man said with a hiss, "I trust you had no troubles?" The woman loathed the man, but their masters were too powerful to be disobeyed. The woman shook her head, attempting not to speak.

"Good. Then we can proceed as planned." the man hissed. The woman threw the memories of her meeting in Ilirea, including how Roran left for Aroughs. The man sat in silence for a while. The woman knew that he was sending this information to their masters.

"You have been ordered to return to Ilirea. Make sure that there is a crossbowman on the crest, in a perfect position to shoot any dragon. When you arrive, you will be given Du Garzjla- The Flame. Ensure that you do not fail. Otherwise... our masters would not be pleased." The man let those words hang in the air. The woman nodded and exited the tavern, the werecat right behind.

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King Orik sat on his throne, bored out of his mind. After the meeting, he had returned to Tronjheim, twiddling his thumbs as he waited for some action to occur. But none came.

Anyways, Orik was sitting on his throne when the dart came. It moved at break-neck speed and would have gone into his shoulder had not the doors opened at the last second, shifting Orik's pose as he prepared to greet his visitor, and so the dart flew straight into the wall.

Orik, and all of his guards, towards the noise. Angela, who was the visitor, rushed up to the dart, examining it very carefully, She set it on the table in front of Orik, and sat down.

"Bladr's Poison." Angela said before Orik could ask. "A substance that would feel, at first, feel like nothing, but kill you suddenly in about 3 days." Orik hastily exited the room at that remark.

He almost made it entirely back to his quarters when someone said, "She lied." Orik whirled around to see Arya standing in an alley nearby.

"I examined the dart myself. It was actually Gorgernat's antidote. While it is an antidote for Gorgernat's poison, it will kill you if you do not have that symptom."

Orik nodded. Elves could move much quicker than normal men (and dwarves, I guess).

"I wouldn't trust Angela if I were you." Arya whispered, and then disappeared. Orik got the feeling that one of the two were lying. But was it Angela, one who was good with herbs and poisons but not exactly reliable, or Arya, one whom you could trust but was not an expert in poisons?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: So sorry for updating so late. I had a sort-of week long vacation, and then this story sort of slipped my mind, and then my Internet connection got severed for a while... Anyway, in this chapter, I am going to bring back things mentioned in the Inheritance Cycle. Hang on to the feeling of things being re-mentioned, 'cause there are...other things re-mentioned. So stay tuned, and enjoy!**

Normal things happen to many ordinary people. Then again, Murtagh Kingkiller was never really an ordinary person.

Murtagh had been tracking the footprints of a pack of Nagra, who were currently somewhere near Carvahall. He looked up from his path to see, conveniently, a sign. One arrow said _This way to Palancar Valley, _while the other one said _To the barrows of Anghelm._ The footprints of the Nagra treaded on the path towards Anghelm.

_Where have I heard that name before?_ Murtagh wondered, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the howl of a Nagra. Murtagh sighed, and then followed the path.

The trail was dirty and barely visible. But Murtagh was a great hunter, and he easily made his way across the dozens of obstacles leading to the barrows. In his head, though, he was still trying to figure out where he had heard the name. It sounded so familiar to him.

After a while of walking and leaping over quicksand, Murtagh finally reached a pair of giant, bronze doors. He ran his hands along the doors, looking for some sort of handle. When he found none, he knocked on the doors. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer. He pushed on the doors, but they wouldn't budge. Somehow, Murtagh knew the Nagra were in their, and that this was the only entrance. After hours of pushing knocking, and searching, he finally found a rune in the middle of the doors.

The rune said: _Sete irn stripe rula lingua antar. _

Murtagh was confused. He had never seen such abstract words, not even in the dwarves sacred tunnels. He stepped forward to take a closer look...and suddenly the doors started opening.

The doors opened to reveal something that brought back Murtagh's memory. He now knew where he had heard of the barrows of Anghelm. Umaroth had told him to avoid them the day he went north. He knew this because of the figure in front of him, which the Nagra stood beside.

He was facing the one and only Urgal king, Kulkarvek. And in his hand, he held a bloody axe.

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A plan. Who knew that would be the one place where The Hunter was flawed in. As he studied the defenses for about a week now, he decided that even a hundred-thousand warriors, plus 5 Riders, couldn't breach Helgrind's defenses.

The Hunter was now on the east side of the dark tower, planning a scheme that would kill him, most definitely, but might save the dragon egg. He decided that that particular plan would be a failsafe. He studied the defenses intently, trying to formulate a scheme that would allow him to breach the heavily guarded base.

A blood-curling shriek pierced the air, and The Hunter dove for cover in his camp. The huge mass of a Lethrblaka flew directly above him and landed at the top. A Ra'zac clambered down on the top and searched around Helgrind. Luckily, The Hunter's camp was too far away for the Ra'zac to notice.

A shadow passed over the camp as a second Lethrblaka dived towards a small hill less than a league away. The Hunter used a quick spell to conceal his hiding place, then watched the Ra'zac intently as it landed. The force of the impact shook the ground, and The Hunter flinched as a woman appeared out of the forest nearby. His eyes widened as he saw who she was.

The woman flitted over to the Ra'zac, who was dismounting from his Lethrblaka. The Hunter inched closer, determined to catch their conversation. The woman stopped in front of the Ra'zac.

"The shadow wants me to man a ballistae and attack any dragon approaching. But what he doesn't know is that it is impossible to keep said dragon away from Ilirea unless we move him." the woman explained. Her eyes shifted over to the Lethrblaka. The Ra'zac nodded and strapped himself in the saddle. The Lethrblaka roared violently and took off east. The woman followed, close behind.

The Hunter turned back towards Helgrind just as he saw the other Ra'zac slide through a slit at the top of the dark tower. The Hunter enhanced his vision and made a mental blueprint of Helgrind. He studied it for a while, and then he saw a plan that might work.

This scheme, though, required the plan made between the woman and the Ra'zac to be carried out and work. The Hunter got up and started to work.

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A shadow moved silently across the warehouse. The warehouse had vast amounts of supplies and food, things needed if He was to be taken down. The shadow cut open the door with his dark sword, and jumped in.

Soldiers were waiting for him, but he slashed through their ranks with speed and agility that could match even Eragon. Every time a soldier almost hit him, he disappeared and reappeared behind the soldier, stabbing him in the back.

The shadow soon dispatched all of the soldiers and quickly gathered all the supplies that were shipped to Nia from El-Harim. He sailed towards mainland on his boat, the _Stygian Sheath_.

He waited impatiently on the deck. He needed to get to the betrayed city before the two warriors were killed. More importantly, he needed to warn The Hunter of the betrayal of the elven ruins.

The pitch-black boat docked at a port nearby Lake Tudosten. The shadow grimly walked off the plank and splashed into the water. If he wanted to bypass the guards, he would need the element of surprise.

As the shadow swam towards the vast city, he thought to himself about all the dangers that he and The Hunter had faced together. Now that The Hunter had left for Ilirea, he felt a strange emptiness in his life.

The shadow shook his head. No, he must stay in control, like his namesake, the wild beast who walks alone. Yes, the shadow thought, he must be like the wolf. Snakehead Crosser Wolf smiled as Aroughs grew even closer. He must attack like the wild wolf who roams the night.


End file.
